Some time in mid-2005, a group of former Australian partners of the fallen accounting firm Arthur Andersen gathered together for what they called the “Not Guilty” drinks.the firm’s 2002 obstruction of justice conviction, which was related to allegations that it shredded documents related to its audits of the infamous energy company Enron.
Which brings us to the second parallel: the partnership structure of big accounting firms. The sort of command-and-control model of leadership you find in a public company means decisions are made quickly. Whether the nature of the partnership model is hindering PwC’s handling of its current scandal is hard to tell from the outside.
Opinion in professional services and the corporate sector is divided, although one senior figure in advisory says there’s very early anecdotal evidence of some nervousness among company clients, particularly in areas such as tax and consulting.